ANTHROPOLOGY by GOPI KANNAN & INDRA KUMAR
About Anthropology
- Anthropology, is interested in studying the biological and cultural uniqueness and variations of the most intelligent species on the earth – Homo sapiens sapiens.
- Anthropology, as a distinct discipline with bio-social nature provides one with an opportunity to explore human nature and culture from a holistic and integrated perspective.
- Etymologicaly, the word ‘Anthropology’ is derived from two Greek words ‘anthropos’ means ‘human’ and ‘logos’ means ‘study’ or ‘science’. Thus, anthropology can be understood as the study or science of human beings.
Why Choose Anthropology As Optional
- Anthropology as an optional holds one of the highest success rate in UPSC (14.7).
- More Number of Aspirants Excelling in their Final Rank.
- Repetition of questions from previous years and static nature of the syllabus.
- As the syllabus is short, prediction of questions based on importance is easy.
- Major portion of the syllabus in paper 2 has overlapping with GS syllabus.
- Current events associated with tribals have to be linked more specifically in Indian context useful for General studies as well.
It Has Overlapping with General Studies Papers both (Preliminary and Mains)
Part A - Preliminary Examination Paper I
History of India (Prehistory), Indian Polity and Governance – Panchayati Raj, Scheduled Areas, Constitutional Provisions for SC,ST, OBC, Minorities etc. Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. General Science.
Part B - Main Examination
GS Paper I
Society Indian society and diversity – Salient aspects, Socialempowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism, Effects of globalization on Indian society.
GS Paper III
General awareness in the fields of bio-technology, Recombinant DNA etc, Issues relating to intellectual property rights, Linkages between development and spread of extremism
GS Paper IV
Public/Civil Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration, Problem-solving approach to various societal issues in matters related to Social Justice.
GS Paper II
Functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies, Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies, Government policies and interventions aimed at development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. The role of NGOs, Self Help Groups, various groups and associations, institutional and other stakeholders. Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States ; Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
GEOGRAPHY by L DILIP
About Geography
- Geography as a subject is study of places and the relationship between physical features, environment and people & it explore the physical property on Earth’s Surface and Human societies spread on it.
- It examines how Human culture interacts with Natural Environment & the way that location of places can have impact of people.
- It seeks to understand where, why and how things are found and developed and who changed over time.
Why Choose Geography As Optional
- GEOGRAPHY is one of the most recommended optional subject in UPSC Civil Service Exam as it is a conceptual subject which allow aspirant to learn it in an easy manner.
- Major portion of geography is learnt with the help of images which can be easily stored in mind.
- Subject has dominations of conventional area which are repeatedly asked.
- The definite syllabus makes it carry to understand.
- Geography Optional in one of the famous optional in UPSC exam thus it has several study material books.
- It is most interesting optional because diagram, flowcharts etc are easily understandable and same can be used in exam.
- Map based questions in Paper – II are easy to answer.
It Has Overlapping with General Studies
Part A - Preliminary Examination Paper I
Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Part B - Main Examination
PAPER-II
General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society
- Salient features of world’s physical geography.
- Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
- Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
Paper IV
General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
- Major Crops – cropping patterns in various parts of the country- different types of irrigation and irrigation systems- storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
- Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management. Economics of animal-rearing
- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
- Disaster and disaster management
HISTORY by R BALASUBRAMANI
About History
- History is the study of life in society in the past, in all its aspect, in relation to present developments and future hopes. It is the story of man in time, an inquiry into the past based on evidence. Indeed, evidence is the raw material of history teaching and learning.
- It is an Inquiry into what happened in the past, when it happened, and how it happened. It is an inquiry into the inevitable changes in human affairs in the past and the ways these changes affect, influence or determine the patterns of life in the society. History is, or should be an attempt to re-think the past.
- History aims at helping students to understand the present existing social, political, religious and economic conditions of the people. Without the knowledge of history we cannot have the background of our religion, customs institutions, administration and so on.
- The teaching of history helps the students to explain the present, to analyze it and to trace its course. Cause and-effect relationship between the past and the present is lively presented in the history. History thus helps us to understand the present day problems both at the national and international level accurately and objectively.
Why Choose History As Optional
- HISTORY is one of the most recommended optional subjects in UPSC Civil Service Exam as it is a static subject and aspirants need not to update themselves periodically.
- A major part of the Civil Services Examination syllabus is dynamic. It is good to have one subject for which aspirants need not keep updating themselves.
- The definite syllabus makes it carry to understand.
- Studying History provides aspirant with a deep understanding of not only historical events, but also of socio-political concepts, economic decisions, and human nature in general. This gives an aspirant the required knowledge to write layered answers to questions in several other areas, as well as a lot more depth to any argument they choose to make in those answers.
- History reads like a story and hence, can hold aspirants interest for a longer time than most other options, as it doesn’t have formulae or big-big principles to understand, simple analysis and logic is enough. Studying history develops a good reading habit.
It Has Overlapping with General Studies papers both (Preliminary & Main)
Part A - Preliminary Examination Paper I
History of India and Indian National Movement.
Part B - Main Examination
PAPER-II General Studies-I:
Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.
- Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
- Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant, events, personalities, issues.
- The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
- Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
POLITICAL SCIENCE & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by BALA MURUGAN
About Political Science
Political science is the study of politics and power from domestic, international, and comparative perspectives.
It entails understanding political ideas, ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and behaviour, as well as groups, classes, government, diplomacy, law, strategy, and war.
Why Choose PSIR As Optional
- Political Science and International relations (PSIR) as optional subject in UPSC Mains has emerged to be the most reliable subject to qualify the UPSC with high rank.
- The PSIR syllabus is very useful even after clearing the IAS exam as a large number of concepts can be used while working in the government.
- The optional paper is suitable for candidates from varied backgrounds here you don’t require subject specialisation even non humanities students can easily understand the subject.
- The impression that the syllabus for political science is vast is only partially true. In fact, a lot of the topics are repeated and inter related
- Knowing a lot of content in this subject can also help in your CURRENT AFFAIRS preparation.
- In the interview round a good knowledge of topics in Polity such as governance, international relations, etc. can be very handy.
- In the new revised syllabus, the factual parts have been omitted and hence, an understanding of the concepts is only required to write better answers in this paper.
It Has Overlapping with General Studies
Part A - Preliminary Examination Paper I
- Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
- Current events of international importance.
Part B - Main Examination
PAPER-I
- The Freedom Struggle
- Post-independence consolidation
- History of the world
- Role of women and women’s organization
- Effects of globalization on Indian society Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
Paper II
- Indian Constitution
- federal structure, devolution of powers
- Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
- Pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
- International relations
SOCIOLOGY by S RIJESH
About Sociology
- Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. Sociology’s subject matter is diverse, ranging from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical change in whole societies.
- Sociology is an exciting and illuminating field of study that analyses and explains important matters in our personal lives, our communities, and the world.
- Sociology offers a distinctive and enlightening way of seeing and understanding the social world in which we live and which shapes our lives.
- The Subject itself offers a different view point for a social phenomenon and thus helping to solve various social problems that haunts the society.
Why Choose Sociology As Optional
- Sociology is one of the most recommended optional subjects in UPSC Civil Service Exam as it is a Dynamic subject which always allows the aspirants to link with current happenings.
- Relatively short Syllabus: The syllabus of sociology has only 10 chapters in paper I and 15 chapters in paper II. No other subject probably have such a limited number of chapters.
- Most Versatile subject: Sociology deals with all the other subjects lukewarmly thus most versatile in nature and highly relevant to mains answer writing. Thus reading sociology ultimately helps in understanding other subjects also.
- Encourage critical thinking: It is important to think and write critically for scoring high in Mains and Personality test. Sociology encourage critical thinking and your mind will be natural trained to think critically at end of the course.
- Linkage between Paper I and Paper II: Probably the only subject which has better linkage between paper I and II is sociology. For your understanding, I have divided the whole syllabus into just “VIII parts” and the modified syllabus copy is attached with this handout.
- Scoring optional: The sociology as an optional subject performs consistently over the years and scoring 300+ marks is easier with sufficient writing practice.
- Familiar topics: We, as the part of society, can understand well with concepts such as politics, caste, class, marriage, family, religion etc. No special introduction is needed for many of the topics. Hence, No special knowledge or academic background required for preparing Sociology as an optional subject.
It Has Overlapping with General Studies papers both (Preliminary & Main)
Part B - Main Examination
PAPER-II General Studies-I:
Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.
- Political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.
- Indian Indian society and diversity – Salient aspects.
- Role of women and women’s organisations, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanisation, their problems and remedies.
- Effects of globalisation on Indian society.
- Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
TAMIL LITERATURE by DR SHANKARA SARAVANAN
தமிழ் இலக்கிய விருப்ப பாடம்
"வாய்ப்பு வரும்போது, அதைப் பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்வதே சாலசிறந்ததாகும். - திருவள்ளுவர்."
குடிமைப்பணி முதன்மைத் தேர்வில் உள்ள விருப்பப்பாடங்களில் தமிழ் இலக்கியம் முக்கியமான ஒன்றாகும். தமிழ் இலக்கிய விருப்பப்பாடமனது தேர்வர்களால் பிரபலமாக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்படும் விருப்பப் பாடமாகவும் அதிகமான வெற்றி விகிதம் கொண்ட விருப்பப்பாடங்களில் ஒன்றாகவும் உள்ளது.
ஏன் தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தை விருப்ப பாடமாக எடுக்க வேண்டும்?
தமிழ் மொழியின் மீது நல்ல புலமையும் ஆர்வமும் கொண்ட விண்ணப்பதாரர்களுக்கு தமிழ் இலக்கிய விருப்பப்பாடம் மிக சிறந்த தேர்வாகும். பாட தயாரிப்பு செயல்முறையை எளிது என்பது மற்றொரு காரணியாகும்.
தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தை விருப்ப பாடமாக எடுத்துக்கொள்ளும் முன் கவனிக்க வேண்டியவை:
- தமிழ் மொழியின் மீது வலுவான பிடிப்பு இல்லையென்றால், தமிழ் இலக்கியம் விருப்பப்பாடம் படிப்பது சற்று சிரமமாகும்.
- கடந்த சில ஆண்டுகளாக, தமிழ் இலக்கிய விருப்பத்தேர்வில் எதிர்பாராத கேள்விகள் மற்றும் பகுப்பாய்வுடன் கூடிய கேள்விகள் இடம்பெற்றன.
- மற்ற வழக்கமான விருப்ப பாடங்களுடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது தமிழ் இலக்கியம் பயிற்சியளிப்பவர்கள் குறைவாக உள்ளனர்.
தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தை விருப்ப பாடமாக எடுத்துக்கொள்வதன் சாதகம் என்ன?
- பாடத்திட்டம் மிகவும் நிலையானது.
- தமிழ் இலக்கிய விருப்பத்தேர்வுகளில் நடப்பு நிகழ்வுகள் இல்லை.
- தமிழ் இலக்கியத்திற்கான பாடத்திட்டம் மற்ற பாடத்திட்டங்களுடன் ஒப்பிடுகையில் சிறியதாகும்.
- வரலாறு, பொது நிர்வாகம், புவியியல் போன்ற மற்ற பாடங்களுடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது போட்டி குறைவு.
- இலக்கணத்தில், முழு மதிப்பெண்களைப் பெறலாம்.
- தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தை விரும்புபவர்களுக்கு, அதிகமான கதைகள், கவிதைகள் போன்றவற்றைப் படிப்பதும் பாடதயாரிப்புகளை எளிதாக்கும்.
